Digital Citizenship: Digital Law
Digital Citizenship has been an ongoing theme in our 1:1 Tablet PC learning initiative. With the year quickly drawing to a close, we recently addressed our final topic, Digital Law. Commonly defined as electronic responsibility for actions and deeds which is either ethical or unethical, Digital Law is one of the most important yet least understood facets of living in an electronic society. This short quiz, adapted from B4UCopy, will asses your understanding of some very basic principles:
While all forms of media are subject to copyright infringement, music piracy is especially problematic for teens. A study last year by the University of Hertfordshire found that the average teenager’s iPod contains over 800 illegal music tracks. Under United States law, violators can be sued for up to $150,000 in damages for each copyrighted work, face Federal prosecution, and be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced to jail for up to five years. Teens (and their parents) have been sued for illegal file sharing, and while the fines are typically well below the maximum amount allowed, information, not ignorance of the law, is one’s best defense.
The legal and technical jargon surrounding digital law issues can be difficult to understand, but resources like Young People, Music, and the Internet from Childnet International can help students, parents, and teachers become better educated. And while file sharing may be tempting, there are scores of online resources for music, video, and software that are legal and affordable:
- In addition to the iTunes store and Amazon MP3, Pro-Music includes links to over 500 retailers of online music.
- BirdTrax at Illinois State University is a collection of music, movies, TV shows, and other media that can be legally downloaded.
- SourceForge.net offers fast, secure and free downloads from the largest Open Source applications and software directory.
The “I won’t get caught” mentality that many students and adults embrace is not a solution to the issues surrounding Digital Law. Conversation, education, and modeling responsible use will go a long way toward ensuring that our students behave ethically and legally online.
